It's the Constitution, Stupid...

There's been a lot of buzz about #MangoMussolini wanting to "defer" the election. But then again, today he tweeted that he wants it sooner. 

Here's the thing, folks: HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING about the date. Period. Full stop. End of sentence. This is what the Constitution (you know, that document he keeps trying to set flame to) says: Article II, Section 1: ‘The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.'

Back in April, 2020, the website Constitution Daily started speculating that, due to COVID-19, there might perhaps be a delay or postponement of the upcoming election. But before you start clutching your pearls, here's what they ultimately said:

What remains clear is that only the states and Congress have the power to delay that part of the election process. “Unlike the practice of some states that allow the Governor to postpone an election during emergencies, neither the Constitution nor Congress provides any similar power to the President or other federal officials to change this date outside of Congress’s regular legislative process,” the report says.

Congress also would have the power, by changing the appropriate statutes, to change the general election date and as well the dates electoral votes are received in Washington and counted in Congress. Such changes would require the consent of the House and the Senate and would be extraordinary since “the presidential election date has never been changed in response to an emergency,” the CRS concluded.

In essence, if we didn't change the election during the CIVIL WAR, there's not a snowball's chance in an Illinois August that we're changing it now. Even the Republicans are walking back (quickly) from that, with - gasp! - TEXAS saying, "Yeah...no. Election day is November 3, 2020." Even #MoscowMitch, TED CRUZ and #LeningradLindsey aren't budging on this one, though Cruz did kvetch about the "voter fraud" problem*.... Which isn't...

A professor of law and political science from University of California's Irvine School of Law (you will agree that this isn't exactly a schlock institution, ya think?) said, "Election fraud committed with absentee ballots is more prevalent than in-person viting but it is still rare," and he cites a dataabse created by News21, a national investigative reporting project that tracks cases of election fraud. The findings? Absentee ballot fraud comprised about 24% of reported prosecutions between 2000 and 2012 (twelve years). The number of cases? 491 - in a period where literally BILLIONS of votes were cast. 

Want a bit more irony? #MangoMussolini himself voted via absentee ballot in the 2018 midterm elections... 

Really. If the news media is going to publish every piece of manure that drips from his disgusting lips? At least have sense enough to do some basic research. 

The Garden...

Well, the wildflowers are in a riotous burst of color. And I've managed to harvest a couple of pods of poppy seeds. The Monarchs are looking a bit bedraggled, as you can see from this picture. Poor baby... I hope that the one caterpillar I saw is a survivor. My milkweed also looks a bit worse for the wear, too. 

OK, so I'm not liking the new Blogger interface... TWICE -- having to upload the same picture and now it just ate my text. Bah!!! So let's see how it reacts now; I'm just going to type what I wrote before, and see what the picture does. Hmmm. Not what I want it to do - I sort of thought that the text would wrap around the pictures. This isn't useful if it's not going to do that. Anyway, in this picture you can see the dill is even getting scraggly. I need to take the "weed whacking tool" and scrape out the weeds; without dislodging the wildflowers. Hubby still has a hard time telling one from the other. I'd love to get some Queen Anne's Lace in there - maybe next year. 

It appears that now, I have to figure out how to use the new interface; and it's going to mess up my process again. It used to be that the pictures kind of lead what I was writing about. I'd upload a bunch of them, write, and then insert them where they were supposed to go. But now??? Jeeze, Blogger!! Don't make it easy. Change for the sake of change is useless to me. Please pardon how wonky this will look till I figure it all out... 

Hubby's orchids are looking good - there's a beautiful cluster of the blossoms on one of the miniature phals. He's so excited! There's also a blossom on the wonky little butterwort plant we have near the orchids. It's supposed to keep away any "fruit flies" that come around; I haven't seen it do anything one way or the other, but it has tossed up a blossom, so there you go. He fusses over his orchids like a mother hen over her chicks, which is fine with me. We have two large cattleyas which I hope bloom soon. They're certainly throwing up the leaves! Now, let's show some blossoms, kids!

Crafting Away...

Today, I spent time in the sewing/yoga/music/office space... One day, it'll be a defined space, but then again, maybe that IS the definition. I still have to continue to organize and declutter in that space. It's taking a while. 

A few pics here. I tried a new way to do the ties for my masks and I finally did my alpaca ones. The tie, which is binding tape, goes over my head and ties around the back of the neck. It's a bit fiddly - and I should have just split the binding tape length in half. One of these is shorter than the other, but they both work. It's going to take a bit of messing around to get it to fit correctly. But I like the idea of being able to untie ONE tie and take the whole thing off. 

Isn't that alpaca fabric fun? I just love it. I also finished a green-ish mask for Kid #2. It has regular ties. I asked my sister if BIL would like one, and she said, "pattern is too flashy." To me, this looks like a Grandpa tie. But what do I know? I ask you -- does that look FLASHY?? Hubby even raised an eyebrow at that. But who are we? I'd rather make a mask for someone who'll wear it. The Kid said he had some "old cotton shirts" and wants me to make masks out of them. This should be fun. Hopefully, they're not t-shirts. I hate sewing jersey!

I have about 10 more of the 3-pleat masks to do to add to the "Mask Fundraiser" pile. Got several of them pinned, and will do the rest of the sewing over the weekend. I also have to mail Kid #1's birthday gift to him soon. It's going to be late, but I think he's not home anyway - at least his GF's social media feed looks like that's the case. 

On the other hand, I did also get my Backpack Buddha order of Mayan masks. The masks are made by the indigenous people and the proceeds go to help the local community, which I like. They're well-made and reasonably priced though there's not much information on how to care for them. I can't imagine just tossing them in the wash, mostly due to the velcro on the ties. It's all recycled cotton, which is always good. And it's tightly woven, also good. These are certainly different, particularly in the way they attach to your head!

I'm not entirely sure how to keep them clean, but I'll figure that out. I like the nose piece on these. They did not fog my specs and they stay away from my mouth. I just can't handle the masks touching my mouth because it feels like I'm swallowing it. And the ties are velcro! One over the head, one behind the neck. I had no choice of colors; I have one that's "Navy tones" and this one is "tan tones." I'm fine with that. I love the Aztec pattern and while the black on the nose and under the chin might be a bit dark, I can't help but think these might be more comfortable overall. I like the ones that are more fitted, as  you can tell. And so do most people. 

Hubby wears one that's got a washable, changeable filter. We got one for Kid #2 for school (in case they're going back - still not sure...) and I have one. I just have a hard time with it -- I really think it's more for guys because I have a hard time keeping it on my head. The velcro (points for that) is all the way at the smallest size when I've tried to wrap it around the back of my head. And it slips off my hair. But it has its good points - fitted and the filter thingie is handy. 

The Long Sands tee is moving along. I'm almost at the point of knitting in the round. The drop stitch row went ok -- I did find that I didn't exactly do the "P1, YO" row correctly - I did a couple purls in a row in more than a few places. But I don't care. Really. If you get close enough to the hem of this shirt to notice that? You and I had better be married! Belive me, Hubby won't even notice. 

And I have a Knitting Story to tell you, sweeties... I was reading the pattern, kind of figuring out what was going on. I saw StSt (stockinette stitch) and it said "Knit all rows." I pondered that for a moment or 10...and then I looked it up. 

Stockinette stitch is clearly NOT "knit all rows." That's actually Garter Stitch. But the photo of the project definitely shows StSt as the body of the tee. I'm now confused and doubting myself. And I'm staying up wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too late... So I fire off a query to the designer about the whole thing and I toddle off to bed. 

At 4 a.m. (I swear...) I sit bolt upright in the bed and say, "You moron... When you're knitting in the round, StSt automatically happens by knitting every row. Think of every single Vanilla sock you've ever knit, stupid!"

Later that morning, checking my messages, I find a very sweet message from the designer explaining exactly that, only nicer. I reply back with my "before dawn epiphany" and the designer replies, "Can't even tell you how many times I've done that!" I love me some Quince & Co.!

Random Picture...

We've been trying to see a comet; and I think it's gone now. It's been too light (too much light pollution) or too cloudy. Tonight, Hubby points outside...I thought, "This is it."

It wasn't. But it was beautiful. The sunset would've been perfect if the houses across the street weren't there. Not like I want to get rid of my neighbors. 

Maybe I just want to live where there's lots of sky... That being said, this does remind me of the old adage: Red sky at morning, sailors take warning; Red sky at night, sailor's delight. 

Whatever Mother Nature wants to show me in the evening? I'll take it. There are a lot of things wrong with Illinois. But the one thing we do really well here in the collar counties is "sunrise and sunset."                                                                                                                     Right now, we're on the cusp of taking every gain we've made in the past 4 months and flushing it.  We're doing crap on our COVID rates as we speak, but this sky is saying something: night follows day as day follows night. 

The Key to...

not twisting 350 stitches on a circular needle is..... to start out FLAT.

I started my Long Sands Tee (Quince & Co.) (here is the Ravelry link) using their Sparrow yarn, which is linen. I love linen, but I don't like knitting with linen yarn. I'm using colorway Moon, which is a gorgeous pewter color. 

The top itself has THIRTEEN INCHES of positive ease - so let's just call it really "floaty." For the size I need, I had to cast on 350 stitches. They call for 32" circulars - which isn't nearly enough. I did what they said, and it didn't last long; I ended up frogging. Went to Betsy's in Lockport, and bought 40" circulars (the largest they had) and started over. 

But I have to tell you about the cast on method I used. There was virtually no way I was going to "wrap stitches" to "estimate" the tail. I found the "Two Ball Cast On." I am in love. In. Love. This isn't exactly the link, but it's close enough. I thought I'd saved it, but apparently not. 

And another new thing...It's just been a great learning experience so far... After the frogging, I reached out on the Hive Mind of Facebook, and learned that, for a large number of stitches on a circular needle, one trick is to knit 2-3 rows FLAT, and then join in a circle. You can see whether you're twisted after the 2-3 rows of flat knitting and you're way less likely to twist. 

Jazzed with that, I am! 

The next new thing I'm learning is drop stitch. I dislike drop stitch stuff intensely. Reminds me of runs in nylons, frankly. But this is basically a tiny drop stitch after a row (350 stitches, did I mention???) of k1, yo, k1... So it won't be obnoxious. 

The shirt has a cap sleeve, and honestly, I'd wear a tank under it. It'll be a nice shirt for actually 3 seasons. 

Closing in on 200...

Masks, that is. I've made the pleats smaller, so I can get 3 of them in. We're thinking about doing them as a church fundraiser, since our Rummage Sale (spring & fall) is likely kaput for 2020. 

I'm working on several for Kid #2, since it looks like in Illinois, we don't give a rat's rear end for teachers... put 'em in classrooms where you can't circulate the air, social distance, or even open a window. With 1200+ kids in the average high school, plus another few hundred in teachers, staff, and ancillary personnel in there? 

Yeah. Let's just open the schools. 

Ahem. I digress. 

Anyway, what we were thinking was that we could put the masks out, ask for a $10 donation per mask, and maybe make a bit of money that we've essentially lost with the lack of rummage sale profits. 

We'll see how that goes. I'm also doing another of the more "fancy" masks for myself, using an over-the-head kind of tie so that it only takes a bow in the back. We'll see how that works. I want to get that one done prior to my next yoga training. 

I used a "coffee filter" mask (that's what I call the procedural masks that loop over the ears) for the last weekend training, and it was kind of a pain in the ears... I prefer the ties. But I need something a bit lighter than the ones I made for myself that were lined with flannel. Much too hot for summer!

Got Smoothies...

Well, I went a little nuts with the smoothies this week. You think I have enough? 

In my defense, I now only have about half of the Mason jar left. Here's the recipe:


2 T. Maca Powder
2 scoops your favorite protein shake powder
1 c. coconut water
1 avocado, do the usual prep...
1 cucumber, peeled & chunked
2 stalks celery, trimmed and chunked
1 Granny Smith apple, quartered
2 carrots, chunked
1 head romaine, chunked
1 piece of ginger, about 2" or so
6 ice cubes
1 c. frozen berries
1 cup Siggi's Yogurt, your favorite flavor
Extra coconut water if needed

WASH YOUR PRODUCE.... Use Thieves Fruit & Veggie wash (no need to wash the frozen berries - but if you use fresh? Wash 'em! 

In a VitaMix or Bullet or whatever you have, ingredients in as follows: 
Coconut water
Powders
Granny Smith
Carrots
Celery
Romaine
Avocado
Ginger
Berries
Yogurt
Ice cubes

Notice you're putting the "harder" stuff at the bottom, which, in the VitaMix at least, is the preferred method. Whiz. Adjust for thickness: Add more coconut water if needed. Don't make it too thick - you're not supposed to chew your smoothies, and if you're using a regular blender, a chunky smoothie is the quickest way to burn up a blender. 

Ask me how I know that...

Store in the Mason jar and however many extra containers you need. Use within 2 days. 

You can add any other fruit that you want; I'll often add a pear if I have it. But I like the Granny Smith for the snap. Always add veggies!!! If you just go with fruit, that's a LOT of sugar, even with using Siggi's (which has lots less sugar and a lot of protein). I don't add bananas -- too high in sugar for me. But if you use a banana, you don't necessarily need the yogurt. 

If you want, skip the coconut water and use almond or oat milk. 

I Broke the Dogs...

Or, the heat did. Well, I kinda broke Tippi. She wanted to go for a walk today, and Hubby said, "take her around the block." We made it 2 blocks. The humidity was awful. And she's recovering from a UTI, so I know the antibiotic knocked her for a loop - on top of giving her the runs. Poor baby... She came back in, drank about a gallon of water, and plopped over... Quinnie was behind my chair as always. 

Raisa, on the other hand, has now got the HVAC stuff figured out. She has found the kitchen AC vent and that's her spot. 


It is, of course, the most inconvenient spot, being right in front of the sink. 

Does she care?

Nope. 

Her butt is right by the vent. We call it her "Freezy butt seat." You should have seen her when we had to get the AC repaired. 

Thank goodness that day was in the 70s. She laid by the Freezy Butt Vent and there was no cold. She looked at me as if to say, "What the heck is this bamboozle???" 

Once the guy repaired it (we only needed a sploosh of freon), she was back at the Freezy Butt Vent and happy. She was mortally offended that, till he fixed it, she only had a fan to keep her cool. 

How Does My Garden Grow...

Well, pretty darned good in certain respects. My cherry tomatoes are coming along nicely; I usually buy Sweet 100s - very reliable. My romaine has bolted; I have one pot of parsley eaten to the nubs by the caterpillars. The kale and broccoli rabe have been eaten, I suspect, by Mama Woodchuck and her babies. She's living under the neighbor's tool shed. The neighbor keeps blocking the holes, and Mama just digs more. I suspect the neighbor should just give up, otherwise, the toolshed is going to fall into the huge hole Mama has dug...

My wildflowers are doing ok; the Brown-Eyed Susans are in bloom now. The rest of the garden is starting to fade, but it's time. 

I was quite skeptical when Hubby moved the tomatoes, parsley and lettuce to the deck. But he was right. Even though it's the north side of the house, it does get enough sun - and plenty of water with all the rain we've had. I have to tug the pansies away from the back door - they need to dry out a bit. They're a tad too soggy. 

It's so cool that the tomatoes are taller than I am. 

I can slice them up, and put them on pasta. A cool tomato on warm pasta or risotto is really quite yummy. Hubby says they taste spicy, but I don't think so. I think they're a bit sweeter this year. 

If the Beefsteak tomatoes come in, I'll be using those (and maybe some of my friend's Romas if she has extra) for a fresh batch of canned pizza sauce. 

The basil was really nice; I need to plant more of it next year. I don't have enough to do pesto, but I do have enough to add to a salad or to add to pasta sauce or pizza. My Rosemary, this year, is kind of slow. I have it in the same place as last year, but it's just not thriving. Not sure why. It's usually bigger by now. There's still enough to freeze, though. 

The Stormtroopers...

Apparently, the president of Chicago's police union wrote to Washington DC and asked for help. Not sure how the new Police Superintendent feels about that. But I am sure how the mayor feels. 


Having armed, unidentified "cops" in the street, just like they're doing in Portland, OR, is frightening. And unconstitutional, though that doesn't seem like it bothers anyone in DC lately. Can you smell the Constitution burning? 

There's a hot dog place called The Wiener's Circle. They're known for their "attitude." And lately, because of COVID-19, they've been doing business in a different fashion. You can call your order in, and then specify the "level of rudeness" you want. From basically just "Chicago rude" to F-bombs. 

It's a thing. 

This is their latest sign. In honor of the Stormtroopers. 

This is a swift fall toward authoritarianism, and martial law conveniently placed close to the 2020 election. It's also very bad theater for one madman. Who managed to conflate a test for dementia with a "genius" test. 

Citing the "failing New York Times".... (sorry, snark is now "off"), we have the Wall of Moms; the Wall of Dads. And now? The Wall of Vets. See the story here. Veterans have had it. After the beating of a Navy veteran who just wanted to talk to the "federales" -- they're now standing in front of the moms & dads. 

Now, given "white privilege" and all -- I get that many black moms are kind of upset about the idea of the Wall of Moms, given that they've been doing that for at least 2 generations. I hate the idea that we, as white women, are co-opting the thing they've been doing. 

I'm wondering how awful it sounds to just say, "But if we can get it noticed and change it, is that bad?" I don't know. I'd welcome discussion...

It will be interesting to follow up on the Portland story. The "cops" have now gassed the mayor, at which point #MangoMussolini crowed that he was "pathetic." 

Mirror, dude. Just look in a mirror. THAT is pathetic. 

Random Picture...

So I did something I'd been toying with; just something to "check off my list." I had my stylist put a few purple stripes in my hair. Jeeze - I'd forgotten that "hair dye" takes forever!! I was there for 2 hours! Now, as you can see, with short hair? I'm in and out. 

You can see the larger of the stripes in this picture. When it's really styled correctly, the purple is just under a "layer" of my silver/pewter (or whatever color you want to call it). 

I have to use a special colored-hair shampoo, which is kind of annoying, but I do want this to last. It's only semi-permanent anyway, but I'd like it not to fade at the first wash!

Anyway - it's something fun.I needed some fun. 

I Am So Far Behind...

...that I might just catch myself coming AND going...

It's Been Rough...

May as well start out with the bad news. Took Tippi to the vet a while back for swollen lymph nodes. Our regular vet is good - we trust her. We thought it might be an allergic reaction to something so we went with that, but it wasn't getting better. 

Went to a specialist, and it turns out that it's lymphoma. So I'm beating myself up about catching it sooner...We could've pushed harder to get to a specialist earlier. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel: she's basically in good health. It hasn't metastasized. 

BUT - she's 12. Doc (specialist) says she's a good candidate for chemo. But, she's 12. 

We go on the 31st. I've done major switching around of appointments to get there. Not that I don't trust Hubby to listen to the doctor - and we all know that Tippi is my heart-dog (I've been lucky to have a few of those) and I'd do just about anything for her. And I want to be there. Through thick and thin. That's what it's about. 

On the other hand, Raisa...our crazy problem child Husky - has had her thyroid medication adjusted, and the doctor gave her an appetite enhancer. The dog wouldn't eat. Huskies can be picky, but she refused every kibble, and at one point, also refused: chicken; rice; scrambled eggs; cheese; buttered toast.... We knew it was serious when she stopped eating toast. She would scale Mt. Everest for toast. 

Anyhow, hoping that the drops work because the dog's gotta put some weight on. And -- at some point sooner than I want to think about, I want to get her ready to take over for Tippi's therapy work. 

Springtime, Randomly...

Some pics that prove, sort of, that spring may finally have come to Illinois. Though it's still debatable, this Memorial Day weekend. 

A tree in Bolingbrook; I was taking a walk during lunch, and saw this beauty. Yes, it's one tree. Crabapple, I think, or maybe some sort of "mock apple" that was grafted, because it clearly has 2 different flowers on it. Same shape, just pink and white together on one tree. 

This is the fire alarm on the building. Needless to say, the birds have been enjoying themselves building their home there. What a pain! 

But it's not the only place; they've built nests in all the neon signs in the plaza. And you'll see another picture later on...

My front garden is going like crazy. The milkweed is actually sort of taking over; my parsley is bursting out of its pot (the pot I set out specifically for the butterflies - I have another set of parsley that we'll actually be eating!). The Monster Bleeding Heart is back in good form. The other wildflowers are coming along nicely, and the seeds I planted have, for the most part, come up. 


The Icelandic Poppy is nearly ready to pop. 

Remember, this is the big white one. And each year, it seems to get "poufier" in the front garden. 

We put out 3 new hummingbird feeders, but with the rain and the cold, we've only seen the hummers zip by. Hoping to see them landing and eating soon. 

This weekend, we'd like to get 2 more pots of basil planted, and get the gazing balls out on their stands in the garden. And clean off the front porch. 

The veggie garden is bursting. We've already done 3 harvests of romaine, and we've got about 6 radishes. The herbs are doing nicely and the leeks (see the front of the nearest bed) are going to be lovely. 

I've been really happy with the early planting; it seems to have made the lettuce happy, at least. I think it appreciated the heavy rains, and definitely likes the cooler days. 

The first radish of the season was very peppery, and with a bit of pink Himalayan salt, it was very delicious! 


Speaking of gardens, I went past the Cathedral the other day and noticed that they actually have done something interesting with their front yard at the Rectory. They've given it over to public gardens for fruits/veggies for the local families in need. That's actually pretty freakin' cool!! 


Our vicar over-planted...I've got about a dozen Roma tomato plants to find homes for, and I may just drop them off there - maybe they have space, or maybe someone knows of a yard they could grow in. Either way, Hubby has said that we are NOT growing tomatoes this year; and Kid #2 doesn't want them. 

So here's the other nest. This is a robin's nest at our church hall. And there's another one on the other door. Yeah, lovely signs of spring, till they nest on your building; then they get kind of shirty. I hope all the little ones have fledged; we had a rummage sale and they used this as the EXIT door. The robin wasn't happy... 

And...the chickens are laying again. Not mine - heaven knows we have no room for fowl. But a patient in the clinic has provided us with a couple dozen eggs the past few weeks. Yummy. 

Seriously, yummy. I'm spoiled now... 

And that's the wrap up for spring, so far. Lots of green stuff growing, but no blossoms yet. Well, the Bleeding Heart and the Lilac have bloomed. And the lily of the valley. But nothing in the "big flower beds." 

I trimmed up the bushes (butterfly bush in the front and a flowering tree in the back) and they've perked up nicely. Funny what a little trim will do.

The Knitting...

Well. Progress of sorts. The Kid #2 afghan continues to move bit by bit. However - it's getting warm outside! I traded the Green Sock for this today just because I needed to NOT have it on my lap. 

I'm feeling this afghan starting to "zip along" so I'm not going to abandon it; I want to get it to him for THIS Christmas! After that next red section comes the first black section. 


And as you can see by the Copland Shawl, black is a stinker to knit with. 

I'm really not enjoying the black parts. Copland is also zinging along. For a simple shawl, it's actually got a few hundred miles (or so it seems) of garter, and luckily, this yarn's stitch definition is amazing. It's also squishy and warm, so the recipient will really like it, I hope. And while my camera doesn't do it justice, the warm tones of the brown really pop against the black, which is blacker than this...Go figure. 

For the heck of it, I whipped up another small bag. I needed something to put my gemstones in because I carry them in my purse and didn't want them rattling around in a plastic bag, or at the very bottom getting scratched up. This is using leftover of the MadTosh "Robin's Nest" that I used for socks a long while ago; they were short-cuffed socks, so I had lots left over. Frankly, I dislike this for socks because it pills like crazy. And it was one of my maiden forays into "real sock yarn" so I really was sketchy about whether that 400 yards would "really" make socks with cuffs; my cuffs on these are barely 5" whereas now I know how far to stretch a sock leg!

This bag actually took me about 2 hours from start to finish. It's not great, but it holds my gems. Instead of an i-cord, I did a crocheted chain; and it's smaller than my other mala bag. It serves the purpose though, so that's all that matters. 

And I didn't have to buy yarn to do it. Just went into my "Oddments" bag and found this. 

And then there was my "personalized yarn crawl." This is "Yarn Crawl Week" for a lot of stores; but I didn't want to hike my butt up to Chicago to troll around there. Hate driving up there anyway. 

My friend Roberta and I did our own. We hit two stores, Knitche in Downers Grove and String Theory in Glen Ellyn. In Downers, we had, by the way, a fantastic lunch...But I digress. 

Knitche has QUINCE!! I have some Quince in stash for an open-front cardigan. I love it. And they were having a sale!!!


So I have "Tern" - a wool/silk blend, and I got the maroon one on 40% off!!! This will be a long-ish, very open cowl. I also got the pattern. I'll have to fill you in on that one later; it's in my Ravelry library. 

Then I got "Kestrel" - a linen yarn, flat-braided structure. This was in their "last chance" bin. Do I have a clue what I'm doing with it? 

Nope. Probably either kerchiefs or a table runner. Not sure yet. But it's lovely stuff, and for something around $7 a hank, it was a bargain. 

I've got one project that I started in linen, and it's a table runner but the linen is a bit more coarse than this. This stuff would be easier to wear next to your skin. They had a sample of a sweater (another open cardigan) that I'd have bought yarn + pattern for in a heartbeat, but it would definitely have busted my budget. 

So I'm glad I didn't see it till we were done and ready to leave! Yarn gods had mercy on me in that case.

Random Picture...

After yoga tonight, the sky was just so pretty. I pulled into the local cemetery to take a picture. And I thought I could find my great-granny's grave, but somehow, I couldn't locate it. That bugs me. Mostly because I've always known where it was, and this is hardly a huge plot of ground... Maybe if it's nice tomorrow, I'll see if Tippi is up for a walk and we can trot over there to see if we can find her. 

We may have our share of crap going on in Illinois, but in my little corner, we still have open space and lovely blue skies.